Crypto Asset Manager Bitwise Files to Publicly Trade Bitcoin Fund

On February 2, the crypto asset manager, Bitwise Asset Management, announced it had filed a Form 211 with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). If the proposal is approved Bitwise will be able to deploy its shares publicly via over-the-counter (OTC) desks and secondary markets.

Bitwise Plans to Compete With Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust

The popular cryptocurrency index fund provider, Bitwise Asset Management, hopes to get regulatory approval from America’s financial regulators in order to publicly list the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund on OTC markets. The Bitwise Bitcoin Fund (BBF) if approved, will follow the public quotation of the firm’s Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund that recently obtained regulatory approval.

The BBF will trade on OTCQX Best Market and currently Bitwise hasn’t chosen a ticker for the fund yet. Bitwise President Teddy Fusaro explained during the announcement that the fund has been managed since 2018 and the company looks forward to an OTCQX public quotation.

“We are tremendously excited to take the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund down the path recently taken by the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW),” Fusaro said. “We have been managing this fund since 2018, offering investors a cost-effective, convenient, and secure means of gaining investment exposure to bitcoin, and are excited to potentially see shares of the fund quoted on OTCQX,” the crypto asset manager’s President added.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer: ‘There Is Significant Growth in Interest From Professional Investors in Accessing Bitcoin’

The Bitwise Bitcoin Fund will compete with the likes of Grayscale, a fund manager that has created numerous trusts that are sold on OTC markets. Grayscale also has a fund that is similar to Bitwise’s 10 Crypto Index Fund called the Large Digital Cap Fund.

Both firms recently removed the crypto asset XRP from these two specific funds holding a basket of digital currencies. While Grayscale has had the opportunity to deploy the fund to a broader audience, Bitwise has had to keep the BBF strictly for private placements by accredited investors.

“There is significant growth in interest from professional investors in accessing bitcoin as a tool to hedge their portfolios against rising inflationary risks,” added Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief investment officer. “Financial advisors, in particular, are taking note of the large allocations that hedge funds, institutions, insurance companies, and traditional asset managers are making to bitcoin, and based on our recent survey of nearly 1,000 financial advisors, many are deciding that now is the time to consider an allocation of their own.”

Meanwhile, exchange-traded notes and trusts like Grayscale have been the only investment vehicles open to the public that give investors exposure to bitcoin and other digital assets. People are hoping the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2021.

A number of crypto proponents believe an ETF will be approved this year, as firms like Valkyrie Digital Assets and Vaneck are racing for approval.